the white house flag at half-staff right now, as well. last night, president obama likened mandela to abraham lincoln when he said mandela belongs to the ages now. giving us a sense of what human beings can do when they're guided by their hopes, not their fears. >> that conviction, too, george, apparent throughout his singular life. evident in his final communication. a final tweet, in fact, from nelson mandela's account. and it does resonate. a real leader uses every issue, no matter how serious and sensitive, to ensure that the end of the debate we should emerge stronger. >> he said his 27 years in prison made him stronger and more mature. and we have much more coming up on nelson mandela, as well. >>> we're also tracking the huge ice storm this morning. more on that in a minute. >>> let's get to south africa. you see the black car carrying mandela's coffin right there. it's going from johannesburg to pretoria. it's draped with the south african flag. abc's alex marquardt is in johannesburg right now. good morning, alex. >> reporter: go